Facts to Reflect On*

EPA workforce in 1970:

5,500

EPA workforce in 1990:

17,170

EPA budget in Fiscal Year (FY) 1971:

$1,289,000,000

EPA budget in FY 1990:

$5,145,000,000

Percent of EPA's budget allocated to regional offices in 1981:

15

Percent allocated to regional offices in 1991:

43

Increase in the U.S. population from 1970 to 1990:

48 million

Present ratio of increase in cars to the increase in U.S. population:

2:1

Estimated percent increase in ambient carbon monoxide by 1990 if 1970 emissions controls had remained unchanged:

140

Number of ozone molecules one chlorine atom can destroy:

10,000

Global carbon dioxide concentrations in 1980 (parts per million):

320

Global carbon dioxide concentrations in 1986 (in ppm):

346

Lung cancer deaths each year EPA estimates are due to radon:

5,000-20,000

Major federal environmental statutes EPA administers:

11

Pages of EPA statutes (1989):

670

Total number of EPA regulations in 1989:

9,000

Money awarded EPA in civil and criminal penalties in 1989:

$45,300,000

Times EPA officials testified before Congressional oversight committees in 1989:

168

Letters to EPA's Administrator and Deputy Administrator in 1989:

49,052

Freedom of information requests submitted to EPA in 1989:

35,205

Number of times the Superdome in New Orleans could be filled with the hazardous waste produced annually in the United States:

1,500

Superfund sites placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) by the end of 1982:

418

Sites on the NPL by end of 1990:

1,207

Superfund sites with cleanup work completed to date:

52

Emergency hazardous waste removals under the Superfund program:

1,700

Acres of wetlands lost annually in the United States:

350,000-500,000

Percentage of U.S. municipal landfills expected to reach capacity in 15 years:

70

Percentage of Americans who rely on groundwater as drinking water:

50

Approved local pre-treatment drinking water programs as of 1983:

65

Approved pre-treatment drinking water programs as of 1990:

1,442

Estimated number of underground storage tanks leaking and contributing to groundwater contamination:

400,000

Average level of DDT found in humans in 1970 (in ppm):

8.0

Average level of DDT found in humans in 1983:

2.0